A Walk for Sunshine is a book by Jeff Alt all about his Appalachian Trail hike in 1998. He decided this would be a walk to help raise money for Sunshine Community, a disabled home where his brother lives.

His brother, Aaron, suffers from cerebral palsy and has lived at Sunshine for many years. This year was the 20th anniversary of the run, walk and roll fundraiser inspired by Jeff’s hike. To date the event has raised more than $500,000.

We discuss the “ups and downs” of his 2,160-mile trek and stories of bears, bugs, blisters and skunks. His recount of fellow hikers is fun to follow along with. His hiker name, Wrong Foot, follows him through the entire journey.

Rudy Giecek of Arlington is the host of the Cascade Hiker Podcast. (More about Rudy here.) You can find the entire archive of podcasts and support his work at his website. Or email him at rudy@cascadehikerpodcast.com.